Day 352: Thursday, August 22, 2013
Port to Port: De Tour to Mackinac Island
Underway: 6:42 am Motor Off: 1:30 pm Miles Traveled: 40 Stayed At: Marina
First Things First: First time having to climb a ladder to get off the boat (the docks were build when water levels were a lot higher); first time going to Mackinac Island on our own boat (it’s just as cool as we thought it would be); first time for Boris to cough and sputter a little (I had to slow down the last two hours into the marina or he seemed starved for gas); first time seeing someone being boarded by the Coast Guard (Carina – they ignored us).
Mile to Mile: A beautiful sunrise greeted us as we left De Tour a little before 7 am aiming for Mackinac Island. We had hoped to have perfect sailing conditions but the wind didn’t quite cooperate – we kept the sail up for a long time but it was only decorative for most of the morning – we had to pinch the wind too much for it to give us a significant speed boost. At least we looked pretty.
We were a couple hours from the Island and were surprised when we looked over at Carina and saw a large Coast Guard inflatable boat parked at their transom. I guess they wanted to double check that they had checked in at customs. I guess Jane and Kent were a little flustered and couldn’t remember the name of the place they checked in (Drummond Island) nor the town we had just left this morning (De Tour). I would have been just as tongue-tied myself. Once they gave them their number, they were happy and let them go on with their day.
We made good time coming across the big water of Lake Huron. They lake was mostly calm for the middle three hours and started getting stirred up for the last hour. Boris wasn’t feeling too good for some reason. He has performed flawlessly for more than 11 months with hardly any maintenance so we were surprised when he first ran out of gas (my fault – I didn’t remember to top the tank off at De Tour) and then, a while later, started coughing and sputtering intermittently. I found that he ran okay if I kept our speed under 5.5 mph which is what I did the rest of the way into the marina. We made it in just fine and they had plenty of room at the inn.
This is a really nice state run marina. I was pleasantly surprised that it only cost us $30 to dock here. One night in a hotel or B&B is probably over $200 for a basic room – we have our own home here and a waterfront view. Can’t beat that. (I have to make my own bed, though). After getting checked in, I decided Boris needed some TLC. I changed out the gas for a different can (just in case), changed the filter, put two new spark plugs in and cleaned the carberator. And I didn’t drop anything into the lake. Boris started and purred like new but I won’t know if this fixed the problem until I try to go at our normal cruising speed tomorrow when we head over to Mackinaw City.
After having an amazing early dinner on the boat of meat loaf patties, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and our last peach, we headed off to do the tourist thing. The island is absolutely beautiful. The landscaping is pristine. The flowers are in bloom. There are bicycles and horse drawn carts everywhere (no cars allowed). I must have taken almost 100 pictures. Cindy found a nice long sleeve T-shirt on sale and bought some fun post cards. We walked up to the Grand Hotel – the sun was highlighting the grand lakeside porch like a spotlight. I can’t afford to stay there but it sure is amazing to look at. We shared an ice cream and headed back to the boat. This would be a fun place to just relax for a week, on a boat, someday in the future – I’ll have to add it to the list.
